A retired Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Deputy has been charged with stealing equipment from the sheriff’s department while he was still an officer.
A special prosecutor brought the charges against 50-year-old Chad Hill.
He retired last year after 27 years with the department.
On or about June 19, 2018 the KCSD learned it had been the victim of a theft. The theft of property and services was discovered while KCSD was gathering information from a previous internal investigation.
It was learned department equipment was given to a woman. The information was gained during a conversation with Hill about a video that was sent to an employee with the prosecutor’s office involving the alleged sexual interaction of Hill involving the woman.
Hill had contacted the department to inform them that the video was sent. During that conversation, Hill asked if a phone, a Verizon portable hotspot and a tablet were returned to the department by the woman.
During the earlier investigation into the incident, only the phone and tablet were made part of the investigation. This was the first mention of a mobile hotspot that was given during a conversation with either party, according to court documents.
An attempt was made to find the mobile hotspot but was not successful. Shortly after learning of the videos, the woman began to make contact about the earlier investigation as well.
She informed KCSD that Hill had provided her with a mobile hotspot for her use in January 2017 and she continued to use it. She said she believed that Hill was personally paying for the use of the mobile hotspot.
The mobile hotspot device was confirmed to be the county’s and was suspended from service at that time. Service for the mobile hotspot was $29.99 a month, and for the 18-month span of use, the cost was $539.82. The device in question was a free account device and did not incur an actual cost at the time of activation.
After retiring from the sheriff’s department, Hill was named school resource officer for Whitko Community School Corp. through the South Whitley Police Department, but resigned July 24 after a social media post was made about Hill by the woman. The post contained a selfie taken by Hill in which he appeared nude from the waist down.
Hill’s initial hearing for the misdemeanor theft case is set for 1 p.m. Jan. 11 before Judge Torrey Bauer.
